The Australian Greens have slammed the Labor and Liberal parties for rejecting the will of South Australians who want to see the Great Australian Bight World Heritage protected.

“The Labor and Liberal Parties have failed time and again to stand up for the Great Australian Bight and speak out against oil and gas drilling. If a spill happens in the Bight, oil will be on their hands,” Greens Senator for South Australia Sarah Hanson-Young said.

“The only constituency that really matters to Labor, the Liberals and the Nationals is their major donors, particularly in the fossil fuel sector”, said Senator Andrew Bartlett, Australian Greens spokesperson for Mining and Resources.

“In the last 3 years alone the fossil fuel industry has donated more than $3.9million to the Labor, Liberal and National parties. So it is no surprise that politicians from all 3 parties continue to wilfully mislead voters about the economic case for coal mining.

The South Australian Greens have welcomed the Sea Shepherd crew aboard the M/Y Steve Irwin back to Adelaide, and pledge to fight to protect the Great Australian Bight from oil and gas drilling. 

“This pristine wilderness must be protected from multinational fossil fuels companies that put profits ahead of communities and the environment,” Greens Senator for South Australia Sarah Hanson-Young said. 

Queensland Greens Senator Andrew Bartlett says Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s complaints about non-existent Adani jobs shows their pre-election promises of ample ongoing jobs in the region from new coal mines were concoctions.

"Labor knew the jobs Adani promised were fake well before the election but fed the lie to Queenslanders because they had to pretend they had a plan for regional jobs to win.

Adani’s wildly exaggerated job figures were exposed long ago, with more and more new mines turning to an automated and casualised workforce.

Within 24 hours of the news of a by-election in the Greens/Labor marginal seat of Batman, Federal Labor reaffirm they do not support taxpayer funds for any Galilee Basin rail line.

“Bill Shorten is no Caped Crusader - we know there’s an election coming when Labor starts to parade their green credentials.

“But he has provided a perfect opportunity for Queensland Labor to get out of their self-made mess and do what’s right for the regions”, says Queensland Greens Senator Andrew Bartlett.

Queensland Greens Senator Andrew Bartlett invites Queenslanders who want politicians to stop sacrificing workers, the environment, and climate in the name of corporate profit to join the Greens.

"Mining companies want to cook the climate, ruin the environment, get their hands on even more public money and treat workers like garbage.

Any politician that represented Queenslanders would reject all of this, but Labor and the Liberals don’t work for us, they work for big business.

Queensland Greens Senator Andrew Bartlett is warning Gina Rinehart and QLD Labor to prepare for the same community backlash that has all but killed the Adani Carmichael Mine in light of the GVK Hancock mining company’s proposal for a new coal mine in the Galilee Basin.

"Gina Rinehart and QLD Labor should prepare for their offices to be blockaded and flooded with calls of protest, and get ready to cop widespread public criticism if they continue to push their coal barrow.

Fossil fuel giant BHP turns away from coal, Turnbull needs to stop and smell the carbon

The Turnbull government’s attempts to deny the death of coal is unlikely to survive another year, as the world’s largest mining company, BHP Billiton, is set to abandon the climate-denying lobbyists in the World Coal Association.

It’s a damning reflection of how broken our political system is that even fossil fuel industry giants are rapidly turning away from coal, yet our politicians continue to invest in and defend it.